


What happens when the warmth disappears?

by Zakuro27



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Patton Needs a Hug, it takes a while to get happy, patton angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2019-08-01 08:31:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16281134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zakuro27/pseuds/Zakuro27
Summary: Patton disappears, and Thomas is left without most emotions and a sense of morality.The main issue, though, is that the sides don't notice it at first, or even seem to care.How will this effect Patton and the others in the long run? Will they even get him back?





	1. What's the Difference?

Patton stared at the ceiling of his dimmed room, feeling much colder than usual. He didn’t remember turning down the air. Granted he couldn’t recall much of anything he had done in the past few hours. Did his emotions have something to do with it? He didn’t know. That was probably a better question for Logan, since he seemed to always have the answers. Patton contemplated asking him but decided against it, not wanting to be ridiculed for asking a dumb question.

Dumb questions. Dumb statements. He seemed to have a lot of those lately. At least, that’s what the other sides seemed to believe. Any time he spoke, Logan’s face seemed to scrunch up in distaste. Any time he entered the room, Roman looked at him as if he were a child who couldn’t say anything meaningful. Any time he glanced in Virgil’s direction, he seemed to cringe in anticipation of a sudden stupid outburst. 

Maybe he was dumb. Maybe his thoughts and ideas really didn’t contribute to the conversation. How could they, if they were so easy for the other sides to shut down? Maybe his thoughts were ignorant, especially if even his agreement to something seemed to tell the other sides the idea was stupid or unrealistic. Maybe he should just stop. Maybe he should stop showing up to the conversations, adding his imput, or disagreeing. Maybe then the other sides would be happy. Maybe then they would stop cringing at the thought of his existence. 

If he stopped showing up to the meetings, the sides would have one less argument to shut down. If he stopped showing up, no one would have to worry about a childlike person interrupting the actual ideas. If he stayed in his room, he wouldn’t have to hear Logan compare him to Deceit. If he stayed in his room, Roman and Logan wouldn’t team up to dismiss his ideas. If he stayed in his room, Virgil wouldn’t have to be annoyed by his silly thoughts.

The room suddenly felt much colder than before. However, that was fine with Patton, for the idea of warmth seemed to harm him more than anything else. Also, it provided him with a reason to curl into the blankets and not come out. He didn’t need to come out anyway. The other sides would be perfectly fine without him. Thomas would be perfectly fine without him. They had made that perfectly clear.

~~~

A draft seemed to waft into the room without any explanation. While Logan would normally see this as odd, he was not bothered by it. It had been abnormally cold for a few weeks already, and the cold had not seemed to have any negative consequences.

In fact, he had been more productive than ever. All of Thomas’s tasks for the day had been completed in record time, and the same could be said about his tasks in the previous weeks. Thomas had been following Logan’s strict regime, which meant he was healthier than ever. He had also been listening to all of his ideas, which ended in the completion of multiple tasks. Granted, he had to cancel a few plans with his friends, but that was nothing compared to the amount of things accomplished. 

Everything was practically perfect. It was so perfect, in fact, that Logan almost felt compelled to thank the cold for the positive change it brought. However, that would be extremely silly. A simple change in temperature couldn’t possibly be the cause of such a drastic change in productivity.

Contemplating it more, Logan realized that he actually couldn’t think of the cause for this change. Again, this normally would bother him, but he didn’t want to test his figurative luck. He also didn’t have time to contemplate the reasoning as he was being summoned by Thomas.

~~~

“Well if it isn’t Mr. Glum, dark, and dreary,” groaned Roman as he took in the room. Thomas had summoned all of the sides such as his wonderful self, Logan, and the emo nightmare.

Virgil, the rude person he was, barely even acknowledged Roman’s comment in favor of sighing and staring at the floor. He looked more exhausted than normal, but he probably just applied more eyeshadow. Roman was about to comment on it when Thomas began speaking.

“Roman do you really have to insult Virgil every time he appears? You are wasting our time, and I need to get back to work.” 

Roman almost had to take a step back. That wasn’t normal Thomas. Roman could recall times when Thomas had said he needed to be nicer to Virgil, but couldn’t even imagine Thomas saying that he was wasting their time, especially in such a snappy tone. Yet, apparently there was a first time for everything, and Roman was completely appalled by it. Even the dark prince’s head lifted slightly in surprise.

“Thomas is right. Roman you need to be more serious if we are going to get anything done.” Logan added. Since when had Logan been the one Thomas is agreeing with.

“Maybe you should mind your own business and focus on whatever Thomas’s problem is. You wouldn’t want to waste time.”

“I am not wasting time as I am simply agreeing with Thomas’s ideas to add additional support. My words are nothing like your unwanted or unrealistic statements.”

How dare he? The walking calculator has been cold at times, but he had never crossed that line before. Thomas always made it a point to state that all the sides were wanted and necessary. 

“Are you serious? For someone who is stressing the idea of getting down to business, you are sure spending an extra amount of time insulting me instead of finding out why Thomas called us here.”

“With a half baked Mulan reference like that, maybe it’s safe to assume that you are the problem with you’re lack of actually creativity.”

“How dare y-”

“Roman, Logan, this isn’t the time to be bickering I have an issue I need resolved.” 

Was Thomas really going to ignore the issue at hand and pretend that Logan hadn’t just been insulting him, the best side? Also, since when did Thomas sound so robotic.

“My apologies Thomas. I should not have joined in on Roman’s undesirable quarrels.”

Roman almost began fuming. First, he was told he was wasting time. Then, the logical side decided to insult him and even insinuate that he lacked actual creativity. Then, he had the nerve to call him undesirable. Roman was about to give him a piece of him mind when Thomas began speaking once again.

“That is quite alright Logan. Now, let's get to the issue at hand. I have called you all here today because I have noticed an issue. I do not seem to have many emotions, or any intense thoughts other than completing work. I wasn’t concerned by this originally, but talking to a friend has made me consider that there may actually be a problem.”

“It very well indeed could be a problem, at least partially. While completing work is never an issue, a lack of intense emotions could be a complication. Roman, could you possibly have something to do with this?”

“Why is this suddenly my fault? Maybe your robot self has rubbed off on him.”

“First of all, that was definitely not your best insult. Second, you the only one of us that deals with emotions. Therefore, it would be reasonable to-”

“Guys aren’t we forgetting something?” Virgil stated as he interrupted the irritating nerd.

~~~

Virgil’s head was pounding, and he was exhausted. Everything had seemed off, and he was constantly on edge. He had wanted to talk to Patton about it since the moral side was always good at calming him down, but he felt anxious about even the idea of knocking on his door to talk to him. His anxiety got especially worse the colder it got, as the cold seemed to be bringing something sinister with it.

For the past few weeks Virgil couldn’t figure out what was causing any of this. Thomas wasn’t under any intense stress, and all things seemed fine aside from that dreadful cold. The chill was even in the common room, but Virgil doubted the other two could tell within their heated argument.

Their argument was another spectacle that could be added to the oddities of the past few weeks. While the logical and creative sides didn’t always cooperate, they had never been at each other’s throats in such a way. Everytime they normally began to argue, their rage would never end up being this intense because they would be stopped by Patton. Patton. 

“Second, you are the only one of us that deals with emotions..”

No. No he wasn’t. How could it have ended up like this?

“Guys aren’t we forgetting something?” he stated as he inserted himself into the almost screaming match between the two sides.


	2. What's Going On?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sides try to find the cause of Patton's disappearance, while things get worse for Patton himself.

He felt cold. Patton was undeniably, uncontrollably cold. This cold couldn’t be fixed with a couple blankets or even mounds of them. No matter what he did, the cold felt worse than any frigid breeze that had ever graced his skin. This cold seemed to seep within his very core and reside there. For a second, Patton contemplated the idea that the cold was coming from his skin. But how silly did that sound? If he were to mention that thought in front of the others, they would surely scoff or laugh at how dumb he sounded.

The others. Patton wondered how they were doing for a second. Well, a second wouldn’t be completely accurate since this was one of the hundreds of times he had thought about them, but Patton tried not to think about that. He tried not to think about a lot of things recently, and it worked out pretty well since he was always told he should leave the thinking to logic.

Since when did he refer to Logan as logic. Ever since they started working on videos together, Patton has never referred to the other sides by their titles. Why now would his brain think otherwise? Could it be because he was no longer a part of the group? Could it be because he was no longer considered family? Is that why he hasn’t seen the other sides in what has felt like ages? Did they realize his absence was for the best and decided to carry on without him?

The cold continued to seep into his core, taking whatever warmth it could find.

~~~

Forgetting something? How could Logan possibly be forgetting something? Such a notion was ludicrous. Virgil was most likely letting his anxiety go into overdrive over the feeling of missing something important. However, nothing was missing.

Thomas was in the center of the room seemingly normal, the only difference being his emotional turmoil, or rather his lack of emotional turmoil. Roman, aside from looking absolutely furious, did not seem to have anything out of place. Also, Logan himself was perfectly fine, as he was confident he had everything in order. As far as the eye could see everything was fine. Virgil was stressed over nothing as the three of them were all in practically perfect condition.

The three of them were in perfect condition. The three of them. Well wasn’t this a reminder of a previous dilemma. Logan finally deduced the missing piece Virgil was hinting at.

“Would you care to elaborate Tony Dark?” Roman questioned, still angered from the previous argument.

“Patton,” Logan mumbled, almost in awe at how long it took him to reach that conclusion, “Patton is what’s missing.”

Logan watched as Roman’s face scrunched in confusion and morphed into realization. Beside him, Virgil’s inner turmoil became even more apparent as he sunk more into himself. In the center of the room, however, is where Patton’s absence made a blatant impact.

Thomas, upon hearing the news, simply stood there. He looked slightly confused as he glanced at where the moral side normally stood, but that was it. He didn’t ask an abundance of questions about Patton’s wellbeing or whereabouts. He didn’t try to figure out how they would get Patton back or save him from whatever terrifying beast could have possibly taken him. He simply stood there in a contemplative state. 

Logan then came to the conclusion that this was very wrong. Thomas was standing in front of him, as calm an analytical as Logan had always wanted him to be, yet this was not Thomas. The Thomas in front of them was a shell of the man everyone knew and loved. He was quiet, collected, productive, but most of all, cold.

~~~

Roman was completely and utterly baffled. How could he forget his wonderful padre? How dare he not notice the absence of the group’s softest puffball? How could he commit such a heinous crime of forgetfulness?

Alas, there was no time for such questions, for Patton was likely in danger. Roman couldn’t imagine any other possible cause for Patton’s disappearance, and he was creativity. Scratch that, he could think of a cause for the missing moral side, a certain scaly scoundrel.  
“I know what has happened!” he exclaimed while brandishing his sword, “Deceit must have kidnapped Patton and is holding him against his will! We must go save him!”

With these thoughts in his mind, Roman was ready to charge into battle and save his beloved padre. However, a glance at his companions showed that they did not have the same mindset.

Virgil, while still trying to make himself as small as possible, had a look of uncertainty on his face. Logan, on the other hand, looked downright disbelieving, though what did Roman expect from the know it all.

“What,” Roman sighed as his shoulder drooped, “What’s the issue now? We have to save Patton quickly!”

“I don’t think Deceit is the cause of this,” came a whisper from the corner.

~~~

“What do you mean deceit isn’t the cause of this?” Roman questioned as his voice began to raise in volume.

Virgil honestly didn’t know how to describe it. He was anxiety, he spent most of his time worrying about what could go wrong and jumping to conclusions, it would make sense for him to agree with Roman. However, when considering the possibility of Deceit doing something to Patton, too many things didn’t add up.

“Virgil is most likely referring to the fact that it is highly improbable that Deceit would do something to Patton, for he has remained fairly harmless recently,” stated logan in a matter-of-fact tone. “Also, I can not imagine a way Deceit could simply get rid of morality in a way that would affect Thomas this drastically, as he doesn’t have that power.”

“Then what could possibly be the cause of this catastrophe!” Roman said through a voice crack.

That was the true question. If Deceit had nothing to do with it, what could have happened to Patton? None of the other dark sides have powers strong enough to do anything as horrible as this. Thomas obviously didn’t do anything. The three remaining sides didn’t do anything to Patton, did they? No, that wouldn’t make any sense, Virgil though. However, that only left one culprit, Patton. But Patton wouldn’t do anything like this, would he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the wait. Writer's block rammed into me and didn't want to leave for a hot second, but when I came back to this, I remembered a ton of ideas and I'm excited to continue this story.


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